Lord Gustav Dreadre
Gustav Adolph Dreadre (16 October 1699 - 3 March 1751) was a very powerful and influential Swiss nobleman and politician, who served as Minister of State in the 1751 Cabinet of Lord Jozef Kohleschmied. Due to Lord Kohleschmied's poor health and absence from Berne for most of the year, Gustav was viewed both locally and internationally as the de-facto Prime Minister, competing with his rival, Prince Richard Kroshbon. During the 1750 Elections, he was the favourite, leading the Swiss People's Party as Chairman, following the retirement of Lord Jozef Kohleschmied from Public life. He fled the Kingdom three days before his prospective win, after harsh disagreements with the King over foreign policy. With him went Princess Sarah Kroshbon, Minister of Defense and the eldest daughter of Prince Benjamin Kroshbon, as well as his sibilings, Sir Antonio Dreadre and Lady Jane Dreadre. Following his departure, he formed a mercenary group, and offered his services to the Kingdom of Spain, and would go on to collude with Prince Ezequiel Clemente, Crown Prince of Spain, and Lord Benedict Hullbatten, General of the EITC Black Guard to work together against their respective enemies. This brazen attempt to collaborate against the governments of Great Britain and Switzerland led to the arrest of Hullbatten, ouster of Prince Ezequiel, and a joint British-Swiss operation that hunted down and assassinated Dreadre. Early Life Gustav Dreadre was born on the 16th of October of 1699, in Aix-la-Chapelle, a spa town on the border of the Bishopric of Cologne and the Kingdom of France. His father, Marvolo Dreadre was the heir to the knightly House of Dreadre, following in his fathers footsteps as one of the traditional knights pledged to the Prince-Bishop of Basel, and reaching aknowledgement as one of the most dedicated. Dreadre's early childhood was thus spent in relative lavishness, as the Prince-Bishop's patronage of him allowed him to study and be brought up alongside the region's finest, eventually being sent to the University of Rome in 1718. The Prince-Bishop at the time, Johann Konrad is generally considered the first absolutist ruler of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel. He instituted administrative centralization, which was ultimately thwarted by popular resistance, but which paved the way for more modern management techniques in the future. In 1724, the Prince was murdered by the city's merchant guild, due to his heavy taxation policies. Those in his service, including Marvolo Dreadre, were similarily shunned from the city's governance and ostracised. The Dreadre's social, political, and financial situation changed in 1731, when during the Kroshbon Conquest of the Swiss Cantons, King Ryan invaded Basel and Marvolo Dreadre, now aged 65, bent the knee, thereby pleding his House to the House of Kroshbon. The King's brother and Prime Minister Lord Tyler Kroshbon instated the House of Venables as the Dukes of Jura, with Marvolo becoming a steward to the new Duke. Career Acting Premiership Marvolo Dreadre died 11 years later at the age of 76, and his duties, land, and wealth were passed on to Gustav Dreadre and his brother Antonio Dreadre. Gustav entered into the service of the Duke of Jura, and was subsequently given the task of modernizing the sleepy town of Delemont into a suitable capital for the Duchy. Gustav was given credit for modernizing Delemont, and was eventually knighted by King William. After the 1746 Sack of Jura, Sir Gustav decided to make the young Prince Ryan Kroshbon his ward, sending him to study at Kohle College in the University of Zurich. In 1750, King Alexander elevated the House of Dreadre to the status of Dukes of Jura, after the seat had remained empty for two years, due to the collapse of the House of Venables. Lord Gustav was soon named Minister of State, and travelled to Berne, leaving the day-to-day affairs of Jura in the hands of his brother and heir, Antonio. Lord Dreadre brought with him to Bern his recently-graduated ward, who would be given a seat at his council in the Ministry of State. As the most senior Minister within the Cabinet, which was led in title by the sickly Lord Jozef Kohleschmied of Venice, Dreadre exerted unprecedented amounts of influence for a newcomer to Swiss politics. Despite it being his first year invested in governance of the nation, Dreadre was quickly elevated to Vice-Chairman of the Swiss People's Party, with the Chair being Lord Kohleschmied. Due to the absence of the Chairman, this left the Vice-Chair, Lord Dreadre, as the presumptive leader within Legislature of the largest caucus within the Swiss political arena. He efficiently capitalized on these gains, especially in regards to dominating the other Ministries, which were led by weak rivals. The Ministry of Home was led by an Acting Minister, whilst the Ministry of Law was led by Lord William Firewalker, a well-respected judge who viewed his Ministry's responsibility as reacting to government policies, instead of creating them. The only rival he had at the time was the King's younger brother and Chief Advisor, Prince Richard Kroshbon, who served as Minister of Defense in addition to being the Crown Prince. Richard and Dreadre's power-struggle cumulated in November of 1750, when the King took vacation to Italy and appointed his brother as Prince-Regent. Richard's mismanagement of the government subsequently led to his fall from power, with him being downgraded to Vice Advisor and Dreadre replacing him as Chief Advisor upon the King's return. In addition to dominating the Cabinet, Dreadre would exert his influence on the Tagsatzung, where he filled the SPP's leadership with his kin and centered its policies around himself. By the end of November, he was perfectly in position to formally succeed Lord Kohleschmied as both Chairman of the SPP, and Prime Minister. He entered the election in early December, running on the ticket of the SPP due to the Duke of Venice's retirement from politics. Though the Election attracted more candidates than any prior election, the fact that none held any prior national administrative positions, nor were currently invested in Swiss governance led many to predict an easy win for the Duke. 1750 Elections The 1750 Elections opened between 6 primary candidates; Lord Dreadre, Sir Richard Stormward on the Unity Party ticket, and Sir Samuel Darkwalker on the Liberal Party ticket, with three independents, Sir Samuel Tackratte, Sir Willuff Firewalker, and Lord Azreel Wolfe. Dreadre had an early lead on all candidates, boasting 61% of the popular vote alone, with his closest rival at only 13%. He was thus expected by all major polling experts to completely steal the election, winning with an unprecedented majority. Whether this was due to his own personal popularity amonst the lower classes, or the lack of any suitable or viable opposition remains a subject of debate, though voter fraud was later alleged on behalf of the Duke. He continued to stay ahead in all elections, and had already begun discussions with the King on the formation of his Cabinet by the time the Primaries ended on December 15. The General Election was slated to pitch Dreadre against Samuel Darkwalker, the only recognizable face in the political spectrum, as someone who had advised the former King William II of Switzerland, and had served as Ministerprassident of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Dreadre's popularity amongst the lower class in Switzerland however ensured his domination of the polls, and he continued to hold a predicted 69% of the popular vote by the penultimate days of the Election. Despite his predicted win of the Election, his career in Switzerland was doomed by his current actions as Minister of State. Prince Ezequiel Clemente, who had been on a charm initiative to garner influence across Europe since taking power as heir to the Spanish Empire, had been in correspondence with Dreadre for some time, and had won Dreadre's favour by publicly throwing the endorsement of the Kingdom of Spain behind the Duke's campaign. Furthermore, Dreadre, obviously thankful for the complete support of such a powerful nation, approved several contracts with the Spanish government, and held several meetings with the Prince and King, all without King Alexander's approval or knowledge. When this was made public, Dreadre's reputation was gutted, and his credibility as a whole began to be seriously questioned. The King rebuked Dreadre's actions vehemently at a Cabinet meeting, telling the Duke "It doesn't matter what you "thought". Ezequiel played you for a fool." after Dreadre had lent official Swiss support to the usurping of Denmak and Norway by Queen Abaddon of Norway. Dreadre would depart Berne that night, returning to Delemont where he and his two sibilings, Sir Antonio and Lady Jane, decided to permanently depart from the Kingdom of the Swiss and seek political asylum. Downfall and execution Insurgency Dreadre and his followers relocated to Tunisia, on the northern African coast. Due to the vast distance between Istanbul and Tunis, and the political instability rocking the Sultanate, Tunis was nigh-ungoverned by the Ottomans. This left a relative power vacuum that Dreadre and his insurrectionist troops were able to capitalize on, leading to a seizure of Tunis in January 1751. He established himself at the head of a Mercenary army, that posed an existential to the Swiss mastery of the Mediterranean. He rapidly drew up plans to take down the Kingdom of the Swiss, believing that the complete dismantlement of the Kroshbon Monarchy would be vengence for his humiliation and destitution. Unfortunately for him, his activities in the region had caught the eye of British Intelligence, which began collaborating with Swiss Intelligence to keep tabs on Dreadre's activities in Tunisia, and the North African coast. A joint task force was set up between Anglo and Swiss officials to coordinate on intelligence gathering and what to potentially do about the Duke's activities, entitled "Operation Dreadful Ones". Prince Ryan was key in creating the group, collaborating with Lord Joseph Grey of Great Britain, and managing to sign the Treaty of Berne (1751) on this basis. The Duke was able to easily recruit amongst the impoverished local populace of Tunisia, which had been largely abandoned both economically and socially by Istanbul. Many looked to this European lord as a route to create a better life for themselves and their families. Dreadre encouraged their beliefs by elaborating on myths of glory in conquesting the wealthy Italian city-states controlled by the Swiss. His ranks swelled, and within two months of the formation of this syndicate, he had garnered the largest mercenary group in Europe. His success caught the attention of his former ally, Crown Prince Ezequiel Clemente of Spain, who determined to use the syndicate to further his proxy war against the British, and check growing Swiss influence in the region. Dreadre, along with Prince Ezequiel, thus set up a conference in Casablanca, Morrocco, where they met with King Ferdinand Clemente of Spain; Lord Benedict Hullbatten, the General of the EITC's Black Guard; and with Queen Abaddon of Norway, the new owner of Tunisia. Ezequiel and Benedict had been plotting together for some time to end the social order of Europe, viewing an impending resignation of British Prime Minister, Lord Newcastle, as a perfect time to strike. Their plan was to seat Newcastle's nephew, the Earl of Lincoln, in the Premiership, leaving de-facto control of the British government to Benedict. Their plan also involved isolating the Swiss, which were seen as Britain's most important ally. Utilizing Dreadre's contempt for King Alexander, and his wish to overthrow the current monarchy offered a perfect opportunity for the two to further their own ulterior motives and goals. Assassination With British and Swiss spies having been able to confirm the proceedings at Casablanca, the task force decided to act, resolving to take out Dreadre, before he posed an immediate threat to European shores. Lord Grey and Prince Ryan travelled to Banghazi, in British Egypt, where they coordinated on a strike on the former Duke. Swiss agents, accompanied by British surveillence units and a regiment of foot that landed on the coast of Tunis, infiltrated the city, and revealed the truth about Dreadre to the local citizenry. As the Swiss agents were able to arise mass protests against the syndicate, British marines raided Dreadre's estate, razing it. Reports have oft said that Dreadre was found hiding in the dining hall, and was put to death on sight. Category:Switzerland Category:People